The money for a proposed $300 million sports complex at a foreclosed famed New York Catskills Mountain hotel was not produced by a March 22 deadline.
"It is still in the works. There is no visibility on the timing," developer Michael Treanor said Monday. "Everything is on hold. ... Until there is money to do something, I really don't have much to say."
Treanor's dream is to renovate the iconic Borscht Belt hotel the Nevele and add a spa and other amenities, mixed in with a family-oriented complex of sports fields as the main attraction.
But it has been a long and rocky road, including bankruptcy. The lender that holds the mortgage on the 564-acre property says in court papers it is owed more than $25 million. The firm auctioned off the property in December and was the only bidder. It paid $3.5 million.
Deadlines have come and gone, as have promises of funding.
The latest deadline of sorts: March 22. The property is located in Ulster County's Town of Wawarsing, near the village of Ellenville.
A lawyer with the Florida law firm representing Asia Pacific, the financiers of the Nevele project, said in a letter, "I can confirm that the Nevele Project is approved, in its entirety for financing by my client. ... I strongly believe that these funds will be available on or before March 15, 2019."
The letter to Town of Wawarsing officials, dated Feb. 21, was signed by Patricia Rahl of Rahl and Rahl, P.A. in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She could not be reached for comment Monday.
The mortgage company, iStar, has paid the 2019 taxes of $54,186 on the property, according to Wawarsing Tax Collector Robin Anderson.
Wawarsing Supervisor Terry Houck said Treanor has worked extremely hard on the project. Treanor told the supervisor more talks about the financing were set for Wednesday morning. Houck had not heard as of late afternoon how the talks went.
T.J. Briggs, a former Ellenville mayor and county legislator, said, "We hope it comes to fruition."
Jeff Kaplan, the current mayor, said Treanor has paid the rent on the office space he uses on the fifth floor of the village headquarters building.
"At one point, we were getting promises. Of late, we're getting rent money," Kaplan said. "I take that as a positive."
Treanor remains optimistic he is going to get the funding, Kaplan said.
"We are still excited. Let's call it reserved excitement," Kaplan said. "We have come from pessimism to reserved excitement. At least we are getting money for rent."
